[alexgmcm]

You can have social contact outside of work though. WFH gives people back time to explore hobbies, join clubs, meet people etc.

The social contact you have at work often feels forced and artificial - you can choose your friends, your colleagues not so much.

[whywhywhywhy]

> you can choose your friends, your colleagues not so much

I did choose them, luckily I got to audition them from around 300 people I've been forced to interact with through over my career during the past 10 years. Not only do I get to know their characters well because I can decide if I like them or not and find out if they're trustworthy through working together I also get the extra benefit of being recommended for jobs through them.

How on earth am I supposed to do that though clubs? Presumably you mean sports clubs because no sure much else than that exists for adults, what if I want to make friends with people who are not interested in sports?

[alexgmcm]

I didn't mean sports clubs. I don't like sports much either other than the gym, where I go alone.

But in my city Meetup.com has a huge amount of clubs and groups for basically anything, and I'm in Barcelona so the city isn't even that big and it's not all English-speaking (which I guess may be more likely to use Meetup).

There are sometimes local Facebook groups for stuff as well, I went on day-trips to various places like that.

I know my colleagues who are into tabletop games and D&D go to those groups, I personally just went to language exchanges and hiking/tourism groups. There are even groups for local video gamers etc. as I guess it's nice being able to meet in person too.

[andrewzah]

There are a plethora of groups for adults. There are groups for tabletop/board games, music, movies, sports, hiking, etc. There's likely groups near you on meetup.com or facebook groups.

For music specifically there are local scenes. If you go to local places consistently, you'll see some of the same faces. Etc.

I like programming, but I would find it very boring to only be friends with people in the same industry as me.

[KptMarchewa]

Meetups or facebook groups select people who are into meetups.

[andrewzah]

For meetup.com specifically, maybe, but there are plenty of facebook groups around hobbies that aren't specifically "meetup" oriented. You could look for organizations specifically in your area, and chances are they'll have a facebook group, facebook page for events, or a meetup account.

I also don't see this as an issue. If you want to meet people, that's a great way to do so. I've done it across America and in Korea, and I have made many friends from it.

[llampx]

Does wfh really give back time to people? From what I've seen with colleagues and friends, it mostly has led to longer working hours. The commute time and the time before dinner has been replaced by more work.

If you have been able to draw the line and log off at 5pm, good for you, but that's not the experience for a lot of people.

[alexgmcm]

Yeah, disconnecting can be hard. I was one of the guys who always left my laptop in the office.

But I'm not working extra hours every day, and given the time I save on commuting and lunch hour and being able to do various chores during the day - I think it's still a significant win.

[bart_spoon]

> If you have been able to draw the line and log off at 5pm, good for you, but that's not the experience for a lot of people.

That's a personal issue though. It seems backwards to insist on an in-person work environment because someone doesn't have the personal discipline to log off at 5pm on their own.

[anoncake]

If it's one person, sure. But not if it's a widespread problem.

[anoncake]

For many people, that doesn't work for whatever reasons. Which is why we have a loneliness problem.

WFH may be good for introverts with good social skills. It's awful for shy extraverts (which is a less-than-ideal combination to begin with).

[krageon]

> for whatever reasons

If you can't speak to people unless they're forced to, that doesn't mean that you need to make it so that everyone else is forced to because otherwise you're uncomfortable.

[anoncake]

You must have misread my post.I wrote "many people", not "me".